Scott Hend won his maiden European Tour title at the Hong Kong Open, but only after a thrilling back-nine battle which culminated in a play-off with Angelo Que in Fanling.
A par on the first extra hole was enough to finally see off Que, who missed the green at the 18th and then badly under-hit his chip.
That was in stark contrast to his earlier efforts, with the Filipino having fired a superb approach to the 18th in regulation for his seventh gain of the day, a round of 66 and a 13 under par total.
Hend was also 13 under at the time, but in rough down the left of the 16th from where he did well to save par.
A good birdie chance at the 17th then went begging, but Hend did well to save par at the last after his approach plugged in a bunker, the Australian signing for a 67.
Earlier, the title race was swiftly blown open when overnight leader Marcus Fraser endured a tough start after a double bogey at Hong Kong Golf Club’s opening hole.
Initially it was England’s Mark Foster, whose only European Tour win in 367 starts came at the Dunhill Championship 11 years ago, who seized the initiatives with birdies from two feet on the first and even closer on the second after a brilliant tee shot to reach 11 under par.
However, Foster’s chances stalled when he ran up a double bogey six at the ninth after pulling his approach and seeing his ball bobble down a cart path.
That allowed Hend, with a birdie at the tenth, and Que, who recovered from a dropped shot on the same hole with gains at the 12th and 13th, to take up the running on 11 under.
Hend and Que continued to trade blows – the former’s gain at the 12th matched by Que up at the 14th.
Hend holed a tricky downhill 15 footer at the 14th to sneak ahead, before Que responded once more with his moment of magic at the last.
“I felt quite calm, the only thing is that hole at the end you never want to have a go at the pin because you can make a bogey quiet easily so I want really sure how to play it,” said Hend, who had five previous victories on the co-sanctioning Asian Tour.
“Unfortunately Angelo made a bogey, I would have rather one of us made a birdie because he’s a great guy and it would be nice to earn the win on a positive note.
“But I’ll take the win and I’m ecstatic.
“I’m very happy to get this done, and my kids Aston and McLaren and my wife Leanne back in Florida – this one’s for my kids and this one’s to be treasured. They’ve been sending me messages the last few mornings.
“I’ve come close on the PGA Tour and The European Tour just not to get across the line and finally at the age of 41 I’ve won a European Tour event so it’s very special. It’s awesome, I love it – Europe here I come.”
Que refused to be downhearted despite coming so close to a European Tour breakthrough.
“It actually panned out better than I thought,” said the 35 year old, who has three Asian Tour titles to his name.
“I had a chance to win but I’ll move on – there’s only one winner. I played great golf all weekend and I hit the shot of my life on the last hole so I can’t complain.”
Ireland’s Kevin Phelan birdied the last three holes in his 66 to take third on 11 under and significantly improve his chances of remaining on The European Tour next year.
Only the top 110 players on The Race to Dubai will keep their cards after next week’s ISPS HANDA Perth International and Phelan’s performance saw him climb from 152nd to 130th.
Foster eventually finished fourth on ten under, with four-time Major Champion Ernie Els a shot further back in a share of fifth alongside overnight leader Fraser, India’s SSP Chowrasia and Dane Lucas Bjerregaard.
Bjerregaard began the week in the firing line at 110th on The Race to Dubai, but the Qualifying School graduate now looks to be safe after climbing to 101st.
